Pocklington RUFC had to settle for a losing bonus point as they went down 13-8 at Old Crossleyans in North One East.

It looked bleak for Pock as they were ten points behind inside seven minutes, the home side kicking an early penalty then grabbing a long-range converted try from good back play.

But Pocklington battled back and, after full-back Tim Drew had made a good blindside break, skipper Mat Webber arrived in the second wave to burrow over from five yards.

Pocklington were on top for much of the second half but were denied by determined Crossleyans defence. Even when the home side went down to 13 men after two yellow cards, they hung on and restricted Pock to a penalty.

When Crossleyans were back at full strength they made a dangerous break that earned a penalty to make the margin five points.

Pocklington laid siege to the home line in a lengthy period of stoppage time but they were unable to force the vital score, despite being stopped on the line half a dozen times and having Dan Wilson held up over it.

Malton & Norton were unable to turn pressure into points in a 17-5 defeat at Sheffield in North One East.

With ten minutes gone, Malton’s pack drove over the line but could not ground the ball. Sheffield struck on 25 minutes when a break in the centres opened the gap and two missed tackles led to a try. The home side then hit a purple patch and produced some good rugby which was rewarded just before the interval when they again stole ball from Malton in their own 22-metre area and launched a 60-metre breakaway for the second try.

Malton spilled the ball from the second half kick off and Sheffield split the defence and score under the posts. Despite losing fly-half Chris Creber to injury, Malton fought back and dominated territory for much of the remainder of the game. Skipper Paul Dobson, Alex Whittaker and Jamie Rounthwaite caught the eye and with 15 minutes left youngster Tom Parsons was credited with a touchdown after a maul.